| Golden Temple Mail | |
| Type: | Mail/Express |
| Locale: | Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi & Punjab |
| Operator: | Western Railways |
| Start: | (MMCT) |
| Stops: | 35 |
| End: | (ASR) |
| Distance: | 1893km (1,176miles) |
| Journeytime: | 31hrs 40mnts |
| Frequency: | Daily |
| Seating: | Yes |
| Sleeping: | Yes |
| Catering: | Available |
| Observation: | Large windows |
| Baggage: | Overhead racks |
| Stock: | LHB coaches |
| Trainnumber: | 12903 / 12904 |
| Speed: | 59km/h average including halts |
The 12903 / 12904 Golden Temple Mail is a mail train belonging to Indian Railways that runs daily between (MMCT) in Maharashtra and (ASR) in Punjab. It is named after the famous Golden Temple at Amritsar. The train is operated with modern LHB coaches from 29 September 2020. The train ran as the Frontier Mail between 1928 and 1996, ferrying passengers arriving by Steamer from Europe directly from Ballard Pier in Bombay to the city of Peshawar on India's North-West Frontier before the Partition of India.[1]
It operates as train number 12903 from Mumbai Central to Amritsar Junction and as train number 12904 in the reverse direction.
The Golden Temple Mail was until September 1996 known as Frontier Mail. Prior the Partition of India, it would run up to Peshawar on India's frontier with Afghanistan from which it derived its name. During the autumn months between September and December, the train used to depart from the station. This was for the convenience of the British who arrived in India by steamer. The Frontier Mail also finds a place in romanticised biographies of film actor Prithviraj Kapoor who is believed to have travelled to Bombay from his hometown of Peshawar by the Frontier Mail in 1928 to act in films. Hunterwali, probably India's first action heroine, has acted in the film Miss Frontier Mail. The Frontier Mail was the first air conditioned train in the Indian Peninsula, when it got an air-conditioned compartment in 1934. The radio facility was provided for the first time in the Golden Temple Mail.
The 12903/04 Golden Temple Mail has one AC First cum AC 2 Tier, two AC 2 tier, five AC 3 tier, eight Sleeper class, two General unreserved coaches, two General cum baggage coaches. It also has one Railway Mail service coach, one Pantry car & one High Capacity Parcel Van.
The Golden Temple Mail runs between Mumbai Central and Amritsar Junction. It is a daily service covering the distance of 1891 km in 32 hours 15 minutes as 12903 Golden Temple Mail averaging 58.64 km/h and 31 hours 55 minutes as 12904 Golden Temple Mail averaging 59.25 km/h.
A train operating the service collided with another train in 1955, killing one and injuring 34.[2]
It is now regularly hauled by a Vadodara Loco Shed based WAP-7 locomotive from end to end.
The train runs from Mumbai Central via,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, to Amritsar Junction